TOM MCGLINCHEY INSISTS he has “no regrets” after bringing his four-year tenure in charge of the Waterford footballers to an end.
After taking some time out in the wake of their qualifier exit to Monaghan, McGlinchey decided not to seek another term as Deise boss.
Tom McGlinchey and his back room team celebrate after their win over Wexford Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
Last month the Cork native led Waterford to their first championship victory since 2011 when they defeated Wexford in round 1 of the back door system, while they were extremely unlucky not to beat Cork in last year’s Munster quarter-final.
McGlinchey, who informed the players of his decision before making it public, says he feels the squad will benefit from “a change of voice” in the dressing room.
“The county board gave me plenty of time but I just felt I’d four years done. I think four years is probably the lifespan most managers be it club or county,” he tells The42.
“Maybe the players need a change of voice. I didn’t seek for my name to go forward and it was done for the players so they would get a different voice and someone to take it on.
“They can keep up some of the continuity with the strength and conditioning and physios but maybe they need a change of voice at the top. That’s the only reason I moved on, for no other reason just for the lads to have a different voice.”
Looking back on his tenure, McGlinchey believes real progress has been made, despite the high turnover of players that many lower-tier counties must deal with. Waterford’s failure to gain promotion from Division 4 was somewhat frustrating, but there were other factors working against them too.
“Last year we probably should have beaten Cork in that game and then we put up a good performance against Derry in the qualifiers,” he says.
A view of the final score after Cork slipped past Waterford in the 2017 Munster quarter-final Tommy Dickson / INPHO
Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO
“Then the Wexford game was obviously a huge fillup for us and it was great for the players to experience that victory. The disappointing part would be that we didn’t do better in the league and there was a lot of different circumstances, maybe missing players at certain times and there were two years we didn’t go back (until late).
“The club championship ran very late so obviously we couldn’t get a lot of pre-season done. That made it harder to do well in the league.
“Having said that we blooded a lot of championship players over the last number of years. It was more or less a new team since I took over. If I remember correctly I think it was 45 or 46 players that played championship over the four years I was involved.
“That’s a big turnover of players over a four-year period but there’s now a lot of players with inter-county experience in Waterford and I’ve no doubt the new person coming in will make the most of them. They have that experience behind them and especially that experience of winning.
“It’s a recurring theme in Waterford and the lower tiers. It’s not unique to Waterford and it presents a challenge. It does take a long time to get up to the experience, fitness levels, the strength and conditioning, the total buy-in that’s required to play inter-county football.
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Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
“Having a turnover of players like that every year does make it harder. This year we had 10 new players who joined the panel. Luckily enough four if not five of them played championship football.
“(The turnover) was hard but it didn’t deter me from the job I was doing. I really enjoyed it. It helped that the county board were very much behind us, the backroom staff we had were absolutely fantastic. We actually became great, great friends and there was a great buzz and camaraderie there. Then obviously the players played a huge part in it.
“A lot of things the players do is unseen, especially in the lower levels when they don’t get the recognition and the plaudits they deserve. They put in a huge effort for the four years I was there and that definitely made my job so much easier.”
McGlinchey previously managed Tipperary in the early 2000s and almost led them to a Munster title in 2002 when they were narrowly beaten by Cork after a replay.
In recent times some pundits have likened inter-county players to “indentured slaves” but McGlinchey refutes that claim. Following Waterford’s win over Wexford he quipped: “We don’t do media bans and we don’t do drink bans. We’re definitely going to enjoy tonight.”
McGlinchey says players still hugely enjoy representing their county – even those without much limelight or success in the lower divisions.
“Of course they enjoy it. I often wonder where these people come up with these expressions and terms. Even when I was playing club football and people would say those things. Of course you make sacrifices and of course you make an effort. It’s probably a bit more now than it has been but that’s life.
He continues: “That’s the way life evolves. It’s like anything in life, things have moved on and it’s the same with sport and GAA and especially at inter-county level. I have to say that anyone that’s involved are there for the right reasons – they want to play. They want to represent their county and be involved at the highest level and challenge themselves.
Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
“Of course people see the big turnover of players and (assume) it must be because they’re not enjoying it. I wouldn’t say that at all. I would actually say there’s so many things going on in people’s lives now and they do realise it isn’t just the GAA there are other things going on and that’s probably why people take a step back.
“But I don’t agree with the term that’s used that people are slaves to the system, they’re not. I think that’s totally unfair and unjust to the players that are involved. The players enjoy it and what makes it enjoyable is when you win.
“I think a lot of players enjoy being involved in a high quality set-up whether it’s with Waterford or Dublin. I think most inter-county set-ups are fairly good and run in a professional way. Players like to challenge themselves at that level and I think that’s why they stay involved so I wouldn’t agree with the notion that players don’t enjoy it.
“That couldn’t be further from the truth and if anyone was in Wexford the day we beat them and saw the enjoyment in the players’ eyes, they’d say, ‘Do you know what, I can see now why you play it.’”
As the conversation inevitably moves towards championship structures and the viability of a two-tiered system, McGlinchey admits he can see “arguments for and against it.”
“We won’t solve this in a 30-second soundbite,” he remarks. “There are pros and cons to every system. There were times we had heavy defeats with Waterford and you’d be saying, ‘Yeah, of course there should be a two-tier competition’.
“Then there were days like Carlow had against Kildare and you’d say there shouldn’t be a two-tiered system.’”
Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
He discusses the possibility of a Champions League-style system championship format being introduced with a team from the four divisions represented in each group. He also wonders if a return to the old league system might help the weaker counties make progress.
“When I was involved in Tipperary, the league was devised that time into 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B. You had teams from a higher level and lower level playing against each other. I know that time I was involved with Tipperary and we played Meath the year after they won the All-Ireland and took them to four points. I think that gave us the confidence later on in the year we’d a great year and ran Cork to a replay in the Munster final.
“The league is superb competition but it is all about the championship at the end of the day. So maybe tweak the league. That would improve the lower tier teams and then you might have a more competitive and constructive championship.”
If he was in charge of the GAA for a day, McGlinchey says he’d bring in all the stakeholders to the table to help shape the direction the Association is headed.
“Sometimes I think our views maybe aren’t taken on board and maybe they’re seeing that we’re just looking out for ourselves, but I think if you talk to any GAA manager or coach at inter-county level they are genuine GAA people at heart. Maybe their view should be taken on board a bit more.
“I’d get the key stakeholders together and having a major discussion thinktank about it. I remember a couple of years ago they had a forum about bringing in rule changes and so forth. It was good but a lot of the stuff that was recommended at the time wasn’t followed through on.
Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
“There’s so many things the GAA do right and there’s so many things that we get wrong and we’re not very quick to acknowledge it. Maybe we should learn from mistakes and try to better it.”
The Mourneabbey man laughs when it’s put to him that he’ll have plenty of free-time now he’s no longer a county boss.
“I’ll still be involved in the GAA. Free time? I’ve three girls and the three of them play camogie and all at different age groups from U12 to U16. There hasn’t been a day or night gone by that I haven’t been at a camogie match or training with a team.
“Look, I’d love to get back into management whatever level it could be. It’s not so much taking a step back but just taking a break and enjoying the time now with the club matches with the kids.
“Going to matches as well, I’d go to a lot of matches. I’d always go to an inter-county hurling or football match every weekend, even twice some weekends. That will always continue and I still have a grá for it and still keep my eye in.
“We’ll just see what happens but at the moment I’m just enjoying the club matches and taking a bit of time out with the family.”
Tommy Dickson / INPHO
Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO
While he won’t miss the four-hour round-trips from his homeplace in Tipperary to Waterford, McGlinchey says those little victories over the years made it all worthwhile.
“I really, really enjoyed it. There wasn’t a night I came out of Waterford and said to myself, ‘Why am I doing this?’ Of course there would be nights training where it’s tough or you’re disappointed after a loss, a narrow defeat or if one of the lads got injured. But there’d be no regrets over what I’ve done.
“The only thing you would say is the road from Tipperary to Waterford mightn’t be the best road. It was a two-hour trip every time down and two hours back. But that gave me plenty of time to talk to people on the phone, I’d often listen to a lot of podcasts.
“There was a lot of time to plan and prepare and you had time to yourself was well. There wasn’t one moment of it I regret. It was an absolutely fantastic time and just a pity we didn’t have more success because when we did have the few brief stints of success it was fantastic and it brought great joy to the Waterford players.”
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'I wouldn't agree with the notion that players don't enjoy it. They're not slaves to the system'
TOM MCGLINCHEY INSISTS he has “no regrets” after bringing his four-year tenure in charge of the Waterford footballers to an end.
After taking some time out in the wake of their qualifier exit to Monaghan, McGlinchey decided not to seek another term as Deise boss.
Last month the Cork native led Waterford to their first championship victory since 2011 when they defeated Wexford in round 1 of the back door system, while they were extremely unlucky not to beat Cork in last year’s Munster quarter-final.
McGlinchey, who informed the players of his decision before making it public, says he feels the squad will benefit from “a change of voice” in the dressing room.
“The county board gave me plenty of time but I just felt I’d four years done. I think four years is probably the lifespan most managers be it club or county,” he tells The42.
“Maybe the players need a change of voice. I didn’t seek for my name to go forward and it was done for the players so they would get a different voice and someone to take it on.
“They can keep up some of the continuity with the strength and conditioning and physios but maybe they need a change of voice at the top. That’s the only reason I moved on, for no other reason just for the lads to have a different voice.”
Looking back on his tenure, McGlinchey believes real progress has been made, despite the high turnover of players that many lower-tier counties must deal with. Waterford’s failure to gain promotion from Division 4 was somewhat frustrating, but there were other factors working against them too.
“Last year we probably should have beaten Cork in that game and then we put up a good performance against Derry in the qualifiers,” he says.
“Then the Wexford game was obviously a huge fillup for us and it was great for the players to experience that victory. The disappointing part would be that we didn’t do better in the league and there was a lot of different circumstances, maybe missing players at certain times and there were two years we didn’t go back (until late).
“The club championship ran very late so obviously we couldn’t get a lot of pre-season done. That made it harder to do well in the league.
“Having said that we blooded a lot of championship players over the last number of years. It was more or less a new team since I took over. If I remember correctly I think it was 45 or 46 players that played championship over the four years I was involved.
“That’s a big turnover of players over a four-year period but there’s now a lot of players with inter-county experience in Waterford and I’ve no doubt the new person coming in will make the most of them. They have that experience behind them and especially that experience of winning.
“It’s a recurring theme in Waterford and the lower tiers. It’s not unique to Waterford and it presents a challenge. It does take a long time to get up to the experience, fitness levels, the strength and conditioning, the total buy-in that’s required to play inter-county football.
“Having a turnover of players like that every year does make it harder. This year we had 10 new players who joined the panel. Luckily enough four if not five of them played championship football.
“(The turnover) was hard but it didn’t deter me from the job I was doing. I really enjoyed it. It helped that the county board were very much behind us, the backroom staff we had were absolutely fantastic. We actually became great, great friends and there was a great buzz and camaraderie there. Then obviously the players played a huge part in it.
“A lot of things the players do is unseen, especially in the lower levels when they don’t get the recognition and the plaudits they deserve. They put in a huge effort for the four years I was there and that definitely made my job so much easier.”
McGlinchey previously managed Tipperary in the early 2000s and almost led them to a Munster title in 2002 when they were narrowly beaten by Cork after a replay.
In recent times some pundits have likened inter-county players to “indentured slaves” but McGlinchey refutes that claim. Following Waterford’s win over Wexford he quipped: “We don’t do media bans and we don’t do drink bans. We’re definitely going to enjoy tonight.”
McGlinchey says players still hugely enjoy representing their county – even those without much limelight or success in the lower divisions.
“Of course they enjoy it. I often wonder where these people come up with these expressions and terms. Even when I was playing club football and people would say those things. Of course you make sacrifices and of course you make an effort. It’s probably a bit more now than it has been but that’s life.
He continues: “That’s the way life evolves. It’s like anything in life, things have moved on and it’s the same with sport and GAA and especially at inter-county level. I have to say that anyone that’s involved are there for the right reasons – they want to play. They want to represent their county and be involved at the highest level and challenge themselves.
“Of course people see the big turnover of players and (assume) it must be because they’re not enjoying it. I wouldn’t say that at all. I would actually say there’s so many things going on in people’s lives now and they do realise it isn’t just the GAA there are other things going on and that’s probably why people take a step back.
“But I don’t agree with the term that’s used that people are slaves to the system, they’re not. I think that’s totally unfair and unjust to the players that are involved. The players enjoy it and what makes it enjoyable is when you win.
“I think a lot of players enjoy being involved in a high quality set-up whether it’s with Waterford or Dublin. I think most inter-county set-ups are fairly good and run in a professional way. Players like to challenge themselves at that level and I think that’s why they stay involved so I wouldn’t agree with the notion that players don’t enjoy it.
“That couldn’t be further from the truth and if anyone was in Wexford the day we beat them and saw the enjoyment in the players’ eyes, they’d say, ‘Do you know what, I can see now why you play it.’”
As the conversation inevitably moves towards championship structures and the viability of a two-tiered system, McGlinchey admits he can see “arguments for and against it.”
“We won’t solve this in a 30-second soundbite,” he remarks. “There are pros and cons to every system. There were times we had heavy defeats with Waterford and you’d be saying, ‘Yeah, of course there should be a two-tier competition’.
“Then there were days like Carlow had against Kildare and you’d say there shouldn’t be a two-tiered system.’”
He discusses the possibility of a Champions League-style system championship format being introduced with a team from the four divisions represented in each group. He also wonders if a return to the old league system might help the weaker counties make progress.
“When I was involved in Tipperary, the league was devised that time into 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B. You had teams from a higher level and lower level playing against each other. I know that time I was involved with Tipperary and we played Meath the year after they won the All-Ireland and took them to four points. I think that gave us the confidence later on in the year we’d a great year and ran Cork to a replay in the Munster final.
“The league is superb competition but it is all about the championship at the end of the day. So maybe tweak the league. That would improve the lower tier teams and then you might have a more competitive and constructive championship.”
If he was in charge of the GAA for a day, McGlinchey says he’d bring in all the stakeholders to the table to help shape the direction the Association is headed.
“Sometimes I think our views maybe aren’t taken on board and maybe they’re seeing that we’re just looking out for ourselves, but I think if you talk to any GAA manager or coach at inter-county level they are genuine GAA people at heart. Maybe their view should be taken on board a bit more.
“I’d get the key stakeholders together and having a major discussion thinktank about it. I remember a couple of years ago they had a forum about bringing in rule changes and so forth. It was good but a lot of the stuff that was recommended at the time wasn’t followed through on.
“There’s so many things the GAA do right and there’s so many things that we get wrong and we’re not very quick to acknowledge it. Maybe we should learn from mistakes and try to better it.”
The Mourneabbey man laughs when it’s put to him that he’ll have plenty of free-time now he’s no longer a county boss.
“I’ll still be involved in the GAA. Free time? I’ve three girls and the three of them play camogie and all at different age groups from U12 to U16. There hasn’t been a day or night gone by that I haven’t been at a camogie match or training with a team.
“Look, I’d love to get back into management whatever level it could be. It’s not so much taking a step back but just taking a break and enjoying the time now with the club matches with the kids.
“Going to matches as well, I’d go to a lot of matches. I’d always go to an inter-county hurling or football match every weekend, even twice some weekends. That will always continue and I still have a grá for it and still keep my eye in.
“We’ll just see what happens but at the moment I’m just enjoying the club matches and taking a bit of time out with the family.”
While he won’t miss the four-hour round-trips from his homeplace in Tipperary to Waterford, McGlinchey says those little victories over the years made it all worthwhile.
“I really, really enjoyed it. There wasn’t a night I came out of Waterford and said to myself, ‘Why am I doing this?’ Of course there would be nights training where it’s tough or you’re disappointed after a loss, a narrow defeat or if one of the lads got injured. But there’d be no regrets over what I’ve done.
“The only thing you would say is the road from Tipperary to Waterford mightn’t be the best road. It was a two-hour trip every time down and two hours back. But that gave me plenty of time to talk to people on the phone, I’d often listen to a lot of podcasts.
“There was a lot of time to plan and prepare and you had time to yourself was well. There wasn’t one moment of it I regret. It was an absolutely fantastic time and just a pity we didn’t have more success because when we did have the few brief stints of success it was fantastic and it brought great joy to the Waterford players.”
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GAA P1 stepping down Waterford Tom McGlinchey